The book "Agricultural and Statistical Information," Issue VII, devoted to the cultivation of potatoes in European Russia, is filled with numerous annotations by Lenin. Lenin's remarks demonstrate how carefully he studies the history of the introduction and spread of potatoes in Russia, the development of their technical processing; Lenin delves into detail into all the processes of soil preparation for potatoes, studies the means of production, methods of planting potatoes, their care, potato yields by province, potato processing, distilling, etc. At the same time, he makes extensive calculations and various kinds of remarks concerning the factual and statistical material.

## THE CULTIVATION OF POTATOES IN EUROPEAN RUSSIA.
AGRICULTURAL AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION BASED ON MATERIALS RECEIVED FROM PROPRIETORS. — ISSUE VII. — ST. PETERSBURG 1897

471/К

... the history of the introduction and development of potato cultivation in our country obviously had no foundation whatsoever in the data of the country's own economic experience, however limited it might be, and was therefore under the direct influence of the example of Western European states ...

... the immediate occasion for governmental intervention was the question raised in the sixties of the last century concerning the discovery of means to provide relief "without great expenditure" to the starving peasant population of Finland, and the Medical Collegium, reporting on this matter to the Senate at the beginning of 1765, expressed itself to the effect that "the best means of preventing this calamity consists in those earth-apples, which in England are called potatoes" ...

!

2) ... initially, the cultivation of potatoes proceeded very slowly, and the government's efforts in this regard did not have direct success owing to "superstitious prejudice against this new vegetable among the common people, who considered it a forbidden fruit and gave it the name devil's apple" ...

... the overall scale of potato production in our country was still very insignificant even in the thirties of the present century ...

... on the 8th of August ... 1840, pursuant to a representation of the Ministry of State Lands, the following highest rescript was issued in corpore concerning the cultivation of potatoes.

1. To undertake the cultivation of potatoes in all villages having communal ploughlands ...

and truly

At the same time, however, it must be noted that in certain localities of the eastern provinces the immediate historical fate of these measures was closely bound up with the sorrowful events of popular unrest, or the so-called potato riots, which arose principally from the extreme ignorance of the masses of the population ...

The fact is that "the cultivation of potatoes in the minds of the peasants became confused with the institution of the hated obligatory communal ploughlands" ...

... in the minds of the dark masses of the peasant population assumed the significance of a strictly consistent system of encroachments upon personal and economic independence and inviolability ...

*) The name potato was only fully established in the second quarter of the present century ...

## THE CULTIVATION OF POTATOES IN EUROPEAN RUSSIA

The successive spread of potato cultivation in our country was to a considerable degree conditioned also by the rapid development of industrial processing of this product, which began from the forties ...

... in the last decade 1886 — 1895, especially in the second half of it, potato cultivation in quantitative terms made the most significant progress, giving, on the whole, an increase of more than 80% ...

... by the most recent period, in many places there has arisen and sufficiently strengthened already a purely industrial cultivation of this plant ...

... the total quantity of distilled potatoes, which amounted in 1866/7 to only 6,183 thousand poods, increased in 1881/2 to nearly 44,000 thousand poods, i.e., in 15 years increased by more than 600%, and by the end of the following 15-year period reached already 95,000 thousand poods, i.e., increased more than twofold again; consequently, over the entire stated period, i.e., in the course of about 30 years, potato consumption for distilling increased more than 15-fold; moreover, in the regions of later development of potato distilling, particularly in the central agricultural, industrial and middle-Volga districts, already by the beginning of the 80s the quantity of distilled potatoes in many places increased compared with the 60s by more than 100 times.

The most significant expansion of potato cultivation is confirmed by the tables after 1891, especially in the central agricultural and industrial districts ...

... the area of sowing of this plant, which constituted in 1871 in 50 provinces of European Russia about 790,000 desyatinas, increased to 1,374,638 desyatinas, or almost 75% in 1881 and to 2,154,438 desyatinas in 1895, i.e., in the last 15 years increased by more than 55%, and in some districts this increase reached 100 and even 150% ...

| LENIN'S COLLECTION | 28—30 |
|---|---|
| **I. Black-earth belt** |  |
| 1. Central agricultural |  |
| **Total** |  |
| **Total for European Russia** | Potato harvest in 1881 g., 1882 g., 1883 g., 1884 g., 1885 g., 1886 g., 1887 g., 1888 g. |
|  | 11,629 10,362 11,329 7,022 10,258 11,709 11,062 |
|  | 54,935 53,657 44,147 49,617 40,774 46,796 52,892 49,113 |

*) Harvest in these provinces 1881—5 . . 51,082 100%, 1886—90 . . 54,117 105%, NB *) harvesting takes about 1 month

Field cultivation of potatoes is distributed mainly in the provinces of the central agricultural districts, in the industrial, Lithuanian, Belorussian, Vistula, Baltic, and partly in the southwestern and lake regions, and here cultivation has acquired important economic significance ...

As regards the customary average time for harvesting, in the majority of cases it falls in September — the first half of it predominantly in the black-earth provinces, and in the non-black-earth provinces in the first or second half. They begin to harvest potatoes sometimes as early as June or the first days of August, and finish sometimes as late as the middle of October.

As regards the number of laborers necessary for harvesting one desyatina of potatoes, there are very few data in this respect. According to reports from Mogilev and Grodno provinces, one female worker with an average yield succeeds in collecting up to 2 quarters a day. In the central agricultural

## THE CULTIVATION OF POTATOES IN EUROPEAN RUSSIA

in thousands of quarters

| 1889 g. | 1890 g. | 1891 g. | 1892 g. | 1893 g. | 1894 g. | 1895 g. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9,182 | 12,246 | 50,881 | 55,550 | 0,888 | *20,830 | 19,717 |
| 48,448 | 77,285 | 15,529 |  | *22,481 | 89,913 | 98,266 |
|  |  |  |  | 96,313 |  |  |

and throughout European Russia 213,130 — 100% — 255,232 — 110% — 225 — 168%

provinces they consider that for 1 desyatina with ploughing by sokha there are necessary approximately one or two sokhas and for each of them about 20 women and about 20 youths for gathering tubers; such a quantity of laborers, i.e., 35—40 people, for potato gathering is recognized as necessary in the Belorussian and Baltic provinces.

These works are ordinarily performed by day laborers ...

The productivity of potatoes, according to the reports of correspondents who answered the program, fluctuates within very broad limits both from year to year and according to individual localities. On the average, however, on the basis of the information provided, the magnitude of tuber harvests reaches in various provinces from 62 to 100 measures, but mostly fluctuates around 10 quarters (80 measures) per 1 cadastral desyatina ...

## Potato Productivity

| Districts and Provinces | On the average for the decade 1885—1894 | In quarters per 1 cadastral desyatina |
|---|---|---|
| **A. Black-earth belt** |  |  |
|  | Among landowners | Among peasants | Average |
| **Central agricultural** |  | +7 |  |
| 1. Kursk | +11 |  |  |
| 2. Oryol | +1 |  |  |
| 3. Tula | +4 |  |  |
| 4. Ryazan | +5 |  |  |
| 5. Tambov | +4 |  |  |
| 6. Voronezh | +4 |  |  |
| **Middle-Volga** |  | +7 |  |
| 1. Saratov | +8 |  |  |
| 2. Simbirsk | +6 |  |  |
| 3. Penza |  |  |  |
| 4. Nizhny Novgorod | +6 |  |  |
| 5. Kazan | + |  |  |
| 6. Ufa |  |  |  |
| **Lower-Volga** |  | +3 |  |
| 1. Samara | -3 |  |  |
| 2. Orenburg | -4 |  |  |
| 3. Astrakhan |  |  |  |
| **Southwestern** |  | +2 |  |
| 1. Kiev | = |  |  |
| 2. Podolia | +4 |  |  |
| 3. Volyn |  |  |  |
| **Little Russian** |  | + |  |
| 1. Chernigov | + |  |  |
| 2. Kharkov | + |  |  |
| 3. Poltava |  |  |  |
| **New Russian** |  | = |  |
| 1. Bessarabia | + |  |  |
| 2. Kherson | = |  |  |
| 3. Tauride | + |  |  |
| 4. Ekaterinoslav | + |  |  |
| 5. Don Region | +3 |  |  |

## THE CULTIVATION OF POTATOES IN EUROPEAN RUSSIA

### On the average for the decade 1885—1894

| Districts and Provinces | In quarters per 1 cadastral desyatina |
|---|---|
|  | Among landowners | Among peasants | Average |
| **B. Non-black-earth belt** |  |  |  |
| **Industrial** |  |  |  |
| 1. Vladimir | +5 |  |  |
| 2. Moscow | = |  |  |
| 3. Kaluga | +7 |  |  |
| 4. Yaroslavl |  |  |  |
| 5. Tver | +12 |  |  |
| 6. Kostroma | +11 |  |  |
| **Belorussian** |  |  |  |
| 1. Smolensk | +6 |  |  |
| 2. Vitebsk | +1 |  |  |
| 3. Mogilev | +9 |  |  |
| 4. Minsk | +9 |  |  |
| **Lithuanian** |  |  |  |
| 1. Vilna | +7 |  |  |
| 2. Kovna | +6 |  |  |
| 3. Grodno | +5 |  |  |
| **Baltic** |  |  |  |
| 1. Livonia | +16 |  |  |
| 2. Courland | +12 |  |  |
| 3. Estonia | +16 |  |  |
| **Lake regions** |  |  |  |
| 1. St. Petersburg | +11 |  |  |
| 2. Pskov | +5 |  |  |
| 3. Novgorod | +3 |  |  |
| 4. Olonets |  |  |  |
| **Northern** |  |  |  |
| 1. Vologda | — | — |  |
| 2. Arkhangelsk | — | — |  |
| **Urals** |  |  |  |
| 1. Vyatka |  |  |  |
| 2. Perm | +7 |  |  |
| **Vistula** |  |  |  |
|  | — | — |  |

... there is full grounds to attribute the entire success of this undertaking to the account of the relative profitability and great economic expediency of distilling from potatoes compared with other products, i.e., chiefly grain provisions, both from the viewpoint of the distillery production itself and from the viewpoint of the interests of agriculture.

... in the geographic distribution of potato distilling in our country and in the relative significance in the sphere of this production of individual districts in the period 1876/7—1879/80 there occurred very substantial changes, namely, the Baltic and northwestern provinces lost the significance of the sole representatives of potato distilling in Russia and to a considerable degree

Quantity of potatoes (in thousands of poods) distilled

| Provinces | 1862/3 | 1864/5 | 1865/6 | 1866/7 | 1867/8 | 1868/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Central agricultural |  | 244 | 117 |  |  |  |
| **Total** |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| **Total for European Russia** | 6,897 | 6,815 | 6,968 | 6,183 |  | 8,962 |
|  |  |  |  |  | 1869/70 |  |

| Provinces | 1878/9 | 1879/80 | 1880/1 | 1881/2 | 1882/3 | 1883/4 | 1884/5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Central agricultural | 5,181 | 7,242 | 9,883 | 10,566 | 14,308 | 19,153 |  |
| **Total** | 24,811 | 68,090 |  |  |  |  |  |
| **Total for European Russia** | 21,655 | 22,918 | 37,409 | 43,850 | 49,485 | 52,574 |  |

## THE CULTIVATION OF POTATOES IN EUROPEAN RUSSIA

yielded their place to a group of middle black-earth provinces, with parallel development of this enterprise in certain other districts.

... the ever more extensive and successive territorial spread of it, and with the beginning of the last decade the relatively new districts of potato distilling, namely: the industrial, middle-Volga, the Little Russian provinces and especially the central agricultural districts not only occupied already a very prominent place in this respect, but quite often had even a leading significance both in terms of the overall scale of potato distilling and in terms of the relative number of distilleries using potatoes for distilling.

## Quantity of potatoes (in thousands of poods) distilled in 50 provinces of European Russia in the period 1893/4

| Years | 1870/1 | 1871/2 | 1872/3 | 1873/4 | 1874/5 | 1875/6 | 1876/7 | 1877/8 | 1878/9 | 1883/6 | 1886/7 | 1887/8 | 1888/9 | 1889/90 | 1890/1 | 1891/2 | 1892/3 | 1893/4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  | 1,083 | 1,005 | 2,015 | 2,373 | 3,103 | 12,719 | 9,419 | 16,804 | 19,195 | 17,591 | 16,519 | 22,505 | 21,489 | 21,041 | 28,554 | 17,216 | 17,179 | 19,220 |
| **Total** |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 20,142 | 18,554 | 19,520 | 14,534 | 60,635 | 54,549 | 66,611 | 60,255 | 73,405 | 66,618 |

**LENIN'S COLLECTION**

*) For these provinces in 10 years 1864/5 — 1873/4 — 4,069 thousand poods,
1874/5 — 1883/4 — 74,829
1884/5 — 1893/4 — 200,771

## Number of distilleries using potato distilling, in the period 1867/8—1893/4 ggg. 27 years

| Provinces | 1867/8 | 1868/9 | 1869/70 | 1870/1 | 1871/2 | 1872/3 | 1873/4 | 1874/5 | 1875/6 | 1876/7 | 1877/8 | 1878/9 | 1879/80 | 1880/1 | 1881/2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **A. Black-earth belt** |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 1. Central agricultural |  | 12 | 13 | 17 | 29 | 27 | 33 | 40 | 39 | 55 | 56 | 69 | 81 | 114 | 151 |
| **Total** |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| **Total for European Russia** | 600 | 728 | 749 | 722 | 677 | 789 | 831 | 779 | 777 | 759 | 795 | 825 | 818 | 967 | 1,115 |

*) In these provinces were in 1867/8—1875/6 — 265.9, and throughout European Russia:
1876/7 — 1884/5 — 1,172
1885/6 — 1893/4 — 1,470

**Note:**
Growth of potato cultivation
p. — Potato distilling
Particularly rapid growth in the central agricultural provinces
p. — Number of laborers
p. — Potato distilling
Especially in the central agricultural provinces
p. 128, 130
Number of distilleries using potatoes for distilling
p.

and altogether for European Russia — 106,329
— 305,995
— 696,196

for potato distilling, in the period 1867/8—1893/4 gg. 27 years

| Years | 1885/6 | 1886/7 | 1887/8 | 1888/9 | 1889/90 | 1890/1 | 1891/2 | 1892/3 | 1893/4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  | 172 | 173 | 181 | 183 | 181 | 164 | — | — | — |
| **Total** | 1,159 | 1,164 | 1,211 | 1,206 | 1,093 | 1,100 | 1,092 | 1,142 | 1,171 | 1,254 | 1,304 | 1,391 |

For European Russia — 6,652
— 8,813
— 10,753

Yields higher among landowners
p. 118
Significance of potatoes for agriculture
p.
Potato distilling
p. 129 and others
Especially in the central agricultural provinces
p. 128, 130
Number of distilleries using potatoes for distilling
p.